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African force may leave Darfur

KEBKABIYA, SUDAN — The African Union said Tuesday that it would quit the war-ravaged Darfur region by the end of the month if Sudan did not agree to allow UN peacekeepers to take over its mission.

"The African Union reiterates its position that it will terminate the mission," said Noureddine Mezni, spokesman for the African force. But the troops will stay "if there is the necessity for the transition to the United Nations," he added.

The message, in effect refusing an offer from Sudan and its allies to pay the troops in Darfur with money from the Arab League, leads the crisis in western Sudan to the edge of a once-unthinkable precipice: the possibility that after the end of this month there will be no outside peacekeepers at all in Darfur.

African Union officials emphasized that negotiations were continuing on the future of the force and the possibility of a UN transfer but also quietly began preparing plans to extricate the 7,000 troops.